Tracking Snowden's asylum options

updated 9:11 PM EDT, Sun July 7, 2013

(CNN) -- NSA-Leaker Edward Snowden has applied for political asylum in at least 21 countries. Currently living in limbo in a Russian airport, his options for finding a new home were looking pretty dim until some South American countries offered to take him. Here's an update of where his requests stand:

• Austria: His request is not valid, because applicants must be in Austria and submit their applications in person.

• Bolivia: President Evo Morales said Saturday that Bolivia is willing to give asylum to Edward Snowden, as "fair protest" for the mishap of the four European countries that restricted the president's plane from flying back from Moscow to La Paz because of the suspicion that Snowden was on the plane.

"I would like to tell you, from the Chipaya people, tell the Europeans and Americans that I was reflecting last night that as a fair protest I would like to say that now we will give asylum if that American, pursued by his fellow countrymen, asks us for it. We are not afraid because they accused me that I was bringing that former CIA agent," Morales said.

• Brazil: The country won't grant asylum or even respond to the request, Reuters reported, citing a Foreign Ministry spokesman.

• China: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday it had no information to offer on Snowden's case.

• Cuba: No response yet.

• Ecuador: The South American country has said that it's considering Snowden's request but that he needs to reach its territory.

• Finland: "We don't have an official application from Snowden," Jorma Vuorio, director general for the migration department of the Interior Ministry, told CNN. "He just left a letter requesting asylum at the Finnish Embassy in Moscow. According to Finnish legislation, it is not possible to leave an asylum application outside the Finnish territory."

• France: Hollande, the French president, said he has "not received any particular demands from Mr. Snowden," according to French television reports.

• Germany: Asylum requests must be made from within the country, but an Interior Ministry spokesman also said "the German right of residence principally entails the possibility of acceptance from abroad, if this seems necessary for international legal or urgent humanitarian reasons, or for the ensuring of political interests of the federal republic of Germany. This needs to be examined thoroughly in the case of Mr. Snowden."

• Iceland: Officials have said asylum seekers need to be in Icelandic territory in order to apply.

• Ireland: The Irish Justice Ministry declined to confirm whether it had received a request on Snowden's behalf, but said Irish law requires that applicants reach the country's borders before a request can be considered.

• Italy: The Italian Foreign Ministry said it received an asylum request by fax. The country accepts requests made in Italian territory or at the border, the ministry said.

• The Netherlands: Snowden would need to be in Holland to formally request shelter, a spokesman for the Dutch state secretary said Tuesday.

• Nicaragua: Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said he would grant Snowden asylum in his country "if the circumstances permit." Ortega didn't elaborate on his announcement, made during a speech in Managua, except to say his country is "open and respectful to the right of asylum."

• Norway: The country confirms the receipt of his request, but usually, asylum seekers must be in the country already to be allowed to apply. The Ministry of Justice is considering whether or not to process his application.

• Russia: Snowden has withdrawn his request for permission to stay in Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday, according to the news agency RIA Novosti.

• Spain: The country is not reviewing Snowden's request because it must be made from within or on its borders, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

• Switzerland: Applicants for political asylum have to be on Swiss soil, a spokeswoman for the Swiss federal office for migration said Tuesday. Swiss authorities aren't aware of any application by Snowden, the spokeswoman said.

Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden both held jobs that gave them access to some of their country's most secret and sensitive intelligence. They chose to share that material with the world and are now paying for it.